Jerusalem Post
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Business & Innovation
 

New international innovation quarter launched in Jerusalem

“It is precisely during these difficult times, more than ever, that Jerusalem must build itself for the new world after the economic and social crisis caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic."

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Entrepreneur Erel Margalit and Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion. (photo credit: RIKI RACHMAN)
Entrepreneur Erel Margalit and Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion.
(photo credit: RIKI RACHMAN)
Despite Israel’s intensifying COVID-19 crisis, Margalit Startup City was launched Monday in Jerusalem by Jerusalem Venture Partners founder and chairman Erel Margalit, together with Mayor of Jerusalem Moshe Lion. The Quarter will include a 50,000 square meter International Entrepreneurship and Innovation Quarter to house startups and multinational companies, as well as an investment center and international research and development centers – adding thousands of jobs to the city. Alongside the economic center, the Quarter will also feature a cultural and social center, which will also house the Center for National Service Volunteers.
Margalit Startup City is built as a model for socioeconomic development initiated by Erel Margalit designed to promote the advancement of different aspects and areas of the city. It is based on the establishment of innovation centers that connect technological-business entrepreneurship with social and cultural entrepreneurship. Each innovation center creates a thematic ecosystem around it, an engine for collaboration between different stakeholders including investment funds and startups, in collaboration with leading universities, research institutes and multinational companies. Crucially, this is carried out in cooperation with the local municipal and national government.
Nine start-ups representing Jerusalem’s unique ecosystem were at the event. They included InnovoPro and Podtech which have developed innovative protein substitutes, the ultra-Orthodox health startup Healables, big data company Cnvrg.io, cyber company Vicarius, Compira Labs media company, SynergyMed led by entrepreneur Annan Copti from East Jerusalem and Bio-T from innovation company PlayBeyondBio, a joint venture between Margalit Startup City and global pharma giant Astrazeneca.
“It is precisely during these difficult times, more than ever, that Jerusalem must build itself for the new world after the economic and social crisis caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic. Innovation is the key to rebuilding cities economically, culturally and socially – in Jerusalem, the Galilee, the Negev and Jerusalem,” Margalit said.
“We have come together today to launch the renewed Media Quarter that will grow significantly in the coming years. Margalit Startup City will add thousands of additional hi-tech jobs to the city of Jerusalem,” added Lion. “Together with Mount Hotzvim and the Hujitech complex currently under construction together with Hebrew University, the Media Quarter will significantly strengthen the city and together with Erel we will make Jerusalem the hi-tech capital of Israel.”